A leading business law firm is warning small and medium enterprises to protect themselves over changes to trademark law.

Ccw is advising new legislation makes it far more difficult for smaller businesses to make sure their brands are not damaged or hijacked by competitors.

Previously, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) would reject brand name and logo applications if they conflicted with an existing mark on the register.

But recent changes mean UKIPO no longer automatically rejects these.

Now it notifies owners of the previous mark and gives them the opportunity to oppose the application.

Alison Marshall, solicitor in the technology and creativity team at CCW, said: "This, essentially, means that the onus is now on owners of UK trademarks to actively protect their marks rather than on examiners, as it has been previously.

"The cost of opposing an application can be high, especially if it is defended by the applicant.

"For those businesses whose marks prove to be popular, this means that they could find themselves fighting numerous applicants at a significant cost to their business.

"As brands are businesses' biggest assets these days, this new expense cannot be overlooked.

"It will be a drop in the ocean for most big, multi-nationals which have departments dedicated to brand maintenance.

"They can soak up this new rule and the new expense with ease.

"However, for small businesses with UK trademarks the impact could be huge, and could prove costly."

Marshall also believes the changes to the law could leave smaller firms vulnerable to large companies with deep pockets. She said: "Repeated opposition of applications could quickly become unaffordable, leaving small businesses vulnerable to bullying from bigger competitors.

"Region-specific businesses should also take care when weighing up costs and benefits of challenging apparently unthreatening applications from other geographical areas.

"A conflicting mark will inevitably impact on the value of the brand to potential buyers and investors."

With the law only coming in to place in October, its full ramifications have yet to be seen, but Marshall sees potential flaws already.

She said: "At this early stage, another concern is that we are yet to see how thorough UKIPO's searches will be.

"Owners could be inundated with irrelevant notifications but, at the other extreme, they may not be notified when they would like to be.

"Hopefully, the reality will fall somewhere in between, but owners must be prudent and keep an eye on applications until this becomes clear."

SMEs are advised to make sure communications from UKIPO get to the right person and are dealt with appropriately.